(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

A Lake Country man is thankful no one was hurt after he was shot at and pepper-sprayed after his vehicle was hit in Kelowna this morning.

Kelowna RCMP said officers responded to a serious vehicle crash on Glenmore Road and Snowsell Road at around 8 a.m. today, March 7. Police have released few details, but have scheduled a news conference at the detachment this afternoon in connection to what they call a "carjacking incident."

READ MORE: 'Hold and secure' at Kelowna school after nearby car accident

Lake Country resident Kai Merkel said he was driving his CRV along Glenmore Road when a truck hit the back of his vehicle, causing him to crash into the side of the road. It also hit several vehicles behind him.

A woman in another vehicle appeared to be in distress so he ran over to check on her. It was then Merkel noticed the man from the F-150 truck that caused the crash was trying to get into another vehicle.

Merkel and another man ran over to him, and the two men began to wrestle in the vehicle with Merkel outside.

He originally thought the suspect had an Airsoft gun but quickly determined that wasn’t the case.

“I couldn’t really do much as they were inside the car and he shot at us. I grabbed his gun and I wanted to scare him away so I shot it in the air,” Merkel said. “I took the magazine out, threw that away and smashed his gun and went back from the passenger side to wrestle him in the front and help out.”

The suspect told them he was going to kill them throughout the incident, Merkel said.

The other man almost had the suspect in a chokehold before he put his hand on another gun, Merkel said, but he let go of it and and sprayed Merkel in the face with pepper spray.

Merkel ran to a random neighbouring house and the owner helped him clear his eyes out, he said.

“I feel great, thank God that nothing happened, that we’re all safe and everyone is OK,” Merkel said.

The man was later arrested in West Kelowna at around 10:50 a.m. today, according to RCMP. A hold and secure was also implemented at North Glenmore Elementary this morning due to the incident.

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